Before
by DrinkingAlcoholicRainbows
Summary: Or, The Perks of Being A Collector. "So let's recap: Dan Cahill and Natalie Kabra were forced to sit together in the same class." Dan personally thought that the experience was horrifying, at least, before he got to know her. :: Dan/Natalie


Dan Cahill thought this class was going to be horrible, and that was _before_ he even sat down.

Let's recap: Dan is a collector. This may be because of his parents, who died when he was young, and so the result was that he resolved himself to gather everything he could of them, but that is debatable. What isn't debatable however, is that Dan likes to collect things. Because that is not an opinion, but rather a fact, and not one the blonde would like to make false. A few moments came close, but that hasn't happened yet.

One example of such moments is the day he got expelled.

At the time, Dan was in the prime of his baseball-card obsession. His friend had this other friend who had another friend but not really because they were just acquaintances but they were still counted as friends because they hung out a lot that (this is the point where Dan would breathe, and his sister Amy would stare at him disapprovingly, and Dan would never understand that because she asked about the story, right? Good god, girls sometimes) there was this other guy and he heard from his friend, that this guy had a bid for a really cool baseball card of Albert Pujols, which he would sell for as low as fifteen dollars (At which point Dan would scream the last two words out loud and start doing his 'happy dance' and Amy would tell him to shut up.) so Dan decided that he must have to corner this guy and have a talk.

The guy was named Fred, and he was a prankster. He said he'd give the card to him for ten dollars instead, if Dan could pull off a prank on the school principal. He shook his hand and gladly accepted the offer.

Mr. Steven Gludgeons was the principal, and as the son of an army man, he could easily sense what, when, where, and who the trouble was. Dan was a little worried, but he learned that five dollars extra could be the best gift he could wake up to when he inspected his pants in the future, so he went through with the plan.

Dan couldn't even remember how, but four days later, Mr. Gludgeons was covered in tar and chicken feathers, plus a 'COCK-LE-DOODLE-DOO' sign on his you-know-what. He did remember though, that Fred had happily handed over the card thirty minutes later, and that his Great-Aunt Beatrice, Amy, the new au-pair, Nellie, and his Grandma, Grace hadn't found out until a week later when Mr. Gludgeons found the culprit. He was expelled, and Amy transferred as well the next year to keep an eye on him.

(He didn't know what that would do, though, because as long as the skies were blue, Amy couldn't speak up to save her life. Or Dan's, for that matter.)

So now here he was, standing at the open door of the classroom, staring at his new classmates, who stared back at him as if wondering: "Eww, who is this loser?" He honestly couldn't blame them if they were. Who gets kicked out because of a baseball card anyway? Probably only him. A sense of dread entered his stomach for the fifty-sixth time that day. He was going to be picked on in this new school. That's what always happened in television. New student equals new target. That's how it always is.

He didn't notice Mr. Blofis (Originally he was confused when the brochure had the picture of a man with salt-and-pepper hair, and under that the text said: 'Mr. Paul Blofis.' He thought it was a typo and that they were really just warning the students that this guy was obsessed with blowfish. Amy hit him with a book. Grace just laughed) until he started clearing his throat, which made Dan startled. There was a teacher in the room already? Where he came from, the teachers never made it in time, much less come early. Looking slightly guilty and sheepish at the same time, he took a step in the room.

_Come on, Dan,_ he thought, _walk with some pride, man! You're acting like Amy here, **man up!**_

Taking a deep breath, setting his face into an easy grin, he strode in with – what was it again? – a gratuitous amount of swag, in his opinion. He ignored some of the kids' snickers, because they weren't important and Dan ignores everything that isn't important in his eyes. He walked by where Mr. Blofis was, and put himself in front. Mr. Blofis nodded, and gestured his hands in a hurry-up way.

"My name is Dan Cahill," he started. Well, that has to be a good enough beginning. He continued, "I like collecting things, have a sister named Amy who is three years older than me, and…" He stops for a moment and his voice dies in his throat. He doesn't want these strangers to know his parents are gone. That seemed too personal somehow. Then he realized he left his sentence hanging, and instantly brightened up. "And I'm going to stay here whether you like it or not, so deal with it!"

Mr. Blofis smiled down at him. "Well aren't you energetic? You sit there by Natalie. Natalie? Can you give some space for our new guest over here?"

Dan's brightness faltered for a bit. She couldn't be here. No, of course she isn't. Why would she anyway? She and her brother were always complaining about America every time they visited, so why would they even be here voluntarily? Oh god, her brother. He always hated him. He always hated them both. They were so horrible. Dan hoped that this was a different Natalie, maybe the Kabras aren't here, maybe he didn't have to deal with a disastrous family reunion that would most likely end with a lot of broken things. Or bones.

He dared look.

His eyes widened.

Oh god.

It_ is_ her.

Natalie's amber eyes glittered with a hidden sense of what was probably disgust, or worse, excitement. Like she couldn't wait to torture him endlessly with all the torture weapons she kept in a basement back at stuffy, old, England. Dan wanted to go to the bathroom and puke. This was worse, this was horrible, and for once he really wished he hadn't gone through with that stupid arrangement he had with Fred. Or had an obsession with collecting things.

"Hello there, oh relative," she purred. Meanwhile, he wanted to scream and put his head in a wall.

Eye twitching, Dan sat down beside her. He was going to regret this with all his willpower and heart and soul and for every second of his life. He hoped this was just a dream. Oh, let this just be a stupid nightmare that the higher beings of heaven showed to him so he could wake up and just pay the fifteen dollars to Fred and call off the deal. Win-slash-win situation! Fred gets the money, and Dan doesn't have to experience the pain and blasphemy of sharing an education with Natalie Kabra. Why couldn't he have seen that?

(Actually at the time of the planning of the prank, he researched just how much Pujols' card would've cost if he bought from a different marketer. It was four-thousand dollars. He calculated the amount of money he had saved, and that was pretty much all he could think of at the time.

He just didn't want to acknowledge that. Even if it was just to himself.)

The little she-demon giggled when Dan's head acquainted itself with the hard wood desk.

All he wanted was to go home. And maybe put his head in a wall, while he was at it.

* * *

"Hmm, do you mind?"

Dan raised his head from the table and looked. He was hoping he was dreaming, but apparently not, because Natalie's amber eyes were still there, and they were currently looking at him with a sort of bland curiosity he never really expected from her.

He groaned out a "Yes," out and hoped she would back off. She had to understand the need of sleep, because as much as he liked the teacher, the class was boring and he needed to let out some of his stress somehow.

But she's didn't. Dan's head still ached horribly.

Natalie hummed for a few seconds, then said "May I inquire as to why you are here, dear Daniel?"

Now he wanted to put her head in the wall.

Dan gritted his teeth and he could swear Natalie's eyes glittered even more, if that was possible. He couldn't blame her; it so wasn't fair that she was getting a kick out of this and he wasn't. "Got expelled out of my own school," he muttered.

Natalie's eyes really looked like pixie dust right now.

He shot back, "What about you? What are you doing here in 'stupid, bloody, America' anyway?" Dan saw her smirk turn upside-down. It lifted his spirits up immensely.

"Well! I, for one," she sniffed, "actually want to be here. I transferred, because no matter how disgusting this revolting thing you call a country is, I was curious about the low-lives of these simple commoners."

Dan was amazed. He didn't think Natalie could even stand mentioning the States. Also, it really was a thing of wonder how she managed to insult and compliment in a single sentence. He decided he liked her right at that moment. Okay, maybe 'liked' is too far a word, but maybe he respected her. Anyone who could flatter and offend at the same time was okay in his book.

Plus, there was the fact that she actually wanted to go here for once. Maybe, just maybe, Dan thought, she was as full of adventure as he was. Just a different kind. Like Amy loved reading because it gave her a new adventure every page, a new world to get in to. Like Grace loved the world because it gave her a new mystery every turn, a new city to explore. Like Dan loved collecting things because he could just imagine a story for every trinket he finds, a new life to live.

Maybe like Natalie loved being vindictive, because it gave her a new reason to be curious, and to snoop around.

Dan stared at her, transfixed, surprised, and in awe. He could barely hear Mr. Blofis dismiss class. Natalie just smirked at him as she stood up along with everybody else, and she left Dan with his mouth hanging open.

_Well, well, well,_ Dan thought with a grin curling on his face. _Wasn't she somebody else?_

* * *

Dan looked for her when the class filed out. He kept his eyes open for any glance of glossy ebony hair. He turned his head around, left to right, behind, around again, back forward and – Aha! There she was. He gave a small whoop, and he ventured out into the sea of students.

"Excuse me, coming through, sorry, um, – HEY! THIS IS A PUBLIC PLACE! THERE ARE SOME PEOPLE WHO ABSOLUTELY _NEED_ TO PASS THRO–Oh. Hey Natalie." Dan coughed. Said girl was looking at him with her perfectly plucked eyebrows and glittering amber eyes. Seriously. Was glittering a permanent add-on to Natalie's eyes? He decided to ask her that later.

"I have the feeling you have something to say, so you best spit it out," she said after a moment of awkward silence. Dan really had to brush up on his ladies skills.

"Do you want to hang out sometime?" He said this all very fast, but he could tell Natalie could understand it, judging by how her eyes widened. But eventually she regained control, and Dan could swear that she smiled. Not a smirk, but an actual smile.

His heart felt a little bit lighter at that. Because it wasn't an opinion, but rather a fact, and Dan could personally vouch for it.

"As long as we don't actually hang at trees, then…I can make that a promise." Natalie smiled a little bit wider, and Dan shyly grinned back. He figured that was a good thing, because Natalie was trying hard not to giggle. Maybe he could actually make this work, for once.

Natalie spun around, letting her skirt ripple, and Dan watched her. Then he remembered that they didn't decide on a time yet, so he yelled, "Friday night, I'll pick you up at six?"

Natalie stopped walking, and for a moment Dan thought that was a bad move, but she kept on walking. Dan took that as a yes. He grinned a tiny bit wider. But his happiness had inflamed to over nine-thousand.

So let's recap: Dan Cahill and Natalie Kabra were forced to sit together in the same class. Then Natalie asked a question, which spurred a conversation. Natalie said she was in America on her own terms. After that, Dan had an epiphany concerning the girl, and decided they get to know each other a little more. Natalie agreed, and now Dan had a date on Friday, six 'o clock sharp.

There were those many moments that Dan had loved the fact that he was a collector, and one such example was his first day of school.

Dan Cahill thought this date was going to be great, and that was four days _before_ it happened.

* * *

**A/N: Because Claudia had unknowingly hoodwinked me into shipping Dan/Natalie, and I only read the first book. Also, I am now a fan of 39 Clues. Problem, followers? No, of course not. You all love me.**


End file.
